u/pokersi

Hi,

I'm fortunate enough to have the opportunity to join a large carrier's training program to end up on the Inland Marine or Technology team. I'm torn on which to choose. I've been an UW assistant for 3 years and have decided UW will be my long-term career, so want to make sure I make the right choice.

Tech appeals to be simply because it sounds more interesting. I've always been into software, computers, etc. Inland Marine does sound a little more boring, but I'm aware that it's a more "stable" and predictable book.

Thinking long-term, I'd want a solid work-life balance, but also not be working with accounts that are so dry to me that my eyes glaze over everyday.

From my point of view, both are fine specialties to be in and have their pros and cons, but I wanted to see if anyone could offer any insight as to something else I might want to consider when choosing between these teams, or if I'm missing an obvious choice here?

Thanks.

Hello!

I bought my first mandolin (Eastman 315) last week after spending my whole adult life focused on electric guitar. I moved across the country a few years ago and left my old rock band behind, and I haven’t really been able to find a musical community since. I’ve tried Craigslist, Facebook groups, blues jams, and nothing really clicked.

It started to get to me. Not having people to play with has felt pretty unfulfilling. I found my state’s bluegrass association site and saw there are jams almost every day, and I’ve always been curious about the genre, so I impulsively picked up a mandolin and started working on it, hoping this might be the community I’ve been missing.

From what I’m seeing in videos, it feels like 95% of the time mandolin is doing those muted “chop” chords for rhythm. Am I right that these are basically meant to be purely percussive? Like, there’s almost no reason to let the chord ring out? Even a little sustain sounds off to me compared to recordings. It almost feels like the fretting hand is just there to create the mute.

Lead playing will come with time, but I want to get into jams and be able to hold down rhythm ASAP. I’m learning the chop shapes since they seem essential, but am I on the right track playing them fully muted like this? It barely seems like there’s reason to finger a chord shape vs. laying left hand against frets just to mute

Thanks for reading and for any input!